Minimally invasive surgeries performed by robotic surgical systems are known and commonly used in clinical procedures where it is advantageous for a human not to perform surgery directly. One example of such a system is the minimally invasive robotic surgery system described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,155,315 (filed Dec. 12, 2005). The da Vinci® Surgical Systems manufactured by Intuitive Surgical, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. are illustrative implementations of minimally invasive robotic surgical systems (e.g., teleoperated; telesurgical).
A common form of minimally invasive surgery is endoscopy. Endoscopic surgical instruments in minimally invasive medical techniques generally include an endoscope for viewing the surgical field and working tools that include end effectors. Typical surgical end effectors include clamps, graspers, scissors, staplers, or needle holders, as examples. The working tools are similar to those used in conventional (open) surgery, except that the end effector of each tool is supported on the end of, for example, an approximately 12-inch-long extension tube.
To manipulate end effectors, a human operator, typically a surgeon, manipulates or otherwise commands a master manipulator. Commands from the master manipulator are translated as appropriate and sent to a slave manipulator. The slave manipulator then manipulates the end effectors according to the operator's commands.
Force feedback may be included in minimally invasive robotic surgical systems. To provide such feedback, the remote slave manipulators typically provide force information to the master manipulator, and that force information is utilized to provide force feedback to the surgeon so that the surgeon is given the perception of feeling forces acting on a slave manipulator. In some force feedback implementations, haptic feedback may provide an artificial feel to the surgeon of tissue reactive forces on a working tool and its end effector.
Often, the master controls, which are typically located at a surgeon console, will include a feature for releasing control of one of the work tools at the patient site. This feature may be used, for example, in a system where there are more than two working tools (and thus more surgical instruments than surgeon's hands). In such a system, the surgeon may release control of one working tool by one master and then establish control (grab) of another working tool with that master.
When reaching to grab another working tool, the master manipulator may provide haptic feel so that a surgeon receives feedback that the tool has been grabbed or released. Such feedback is sometimes referred to as a “haptic detent.” The haptic detent permits the surgeon to recognize when the master manipulator is in the correct location and orientation to grab a tool. An example of a haptic detent is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. US 2007/0021738 A1 (filed Jun. 6, 2006). While such haptic detents work well for their intended purpose, the hardware required to provide any haptic feedback to a surgeon's hands can be complicated and expensive.
Utilizing more than two working tools can present other issues. For example, when a surgeon releases one working tool and tries to grasp a new working tool, the new working tool may be out of the endoscopic field of view for the surgeon.
In general, in telesurgical systems, the surgeon is provided an “internal user interface.” This internal user interface is the screen that can be seen by the surgeon while looking into the viewer of the surgeon console. The items shown on this user interface typically include the field of view that is provided from the endoscope and often other critical information, such as system or tool status information. Special care is taken in the design of this internal user interface to ensure it is as natural as possible so as to not distract the surgeon from the surgery itself. In addition to this user interface, often a second “external” user interface is provided in which another operator may view some features of the telesurgical system and provide some noncritical adjustments, such as endoscopic illumination brightness, for example. In practice, however, the surgeon sometimes has to remove his or her head from the viewer to access and view the information available on the secondary interface, which interrupts the surgical work.